Recently, Brigham Young University dropped Brandon Davies, a star basketball player, from their team, because he had broken the school's honor code by having sexual relations while enrolled there.
According to Jeff Kuehn, the OP sports editor:
"For the record, the code requires students to be honest, live a chaste life, use clean language, abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee and illegal substances and attend church regularly.
Davies, by violating the code, cannot represent the school or play on the team, but he is allowed to be with his teammates on campus and watch practices".
Did BYU get it right? Let's look closer.
Prep stars in the athletic world are basically free agents. If they're good enough, they'll have multiple scholarship offers to choose from at the collegiate level. Parental and peer pressures aside, nobody can make them go to a certain college or university unless they want to. Even if they only get one scholarship offer, it's still a choice. They don't have to go there. It's not like they get drafted.
There's little doubt Davies was made fully aware of the above mentioned honor code before he signed on at BYU. He chose to do so anyway. That was, in effect, a contract. If one breaks the terms of a contract, sometimes adverse consequences come into play. Davies was/is a basketball player and, near as I can tell, he's still getting a full ride (free education) at BYU. Had his scholarship been revoked, there would be no issue of hanging out with his teammates or watching them practice, because he wouldn't even BE on campus To date, his punishment has consisted of not being allowed to "represent" the university. But he's still there, presumably going to classes -- for free. That raises another question nobody's talking about.
What about the vast majority of the student population that are not on athletic scholarships and signed the same honor code? What happens to one of them if they do the same thing as Davies? Other than academic scholarships, another small minority, most of the kids have to pay their own way, and tuition's a major cha-ching these days. Ask a parent. Assuming the same honor code applies to all at BYU -- how would they be punished? The only tool the school would have is to suspend or expel them. Does that happen when they see a "normal" student offender drinking coffee or tea? I don't know, but I suspect a lot of it goes on, let alone the other things. After all, these are college kids. Do you really think for a minute that none of them -- well, use your imagination.
This is not to judge BYU's policy one way or the other. They have their own rules, and are entitled to them. If kids want to go there, sign on to the honor code, and reap the benefits of an education provided by a highly respected university, then I wish them well.
Personally, I probably wouldn't have lasted a couple hours there in my college days, before I rightfully got the boot for my own vices at the time, but there's a difference.
I never signed that honor code. Davies did.
I'm a lot older than he is, and certainly can't match his ability on the court, but there's another honor code that supersedes that of even BYU.
In the end, despite talent, and maybe even fame and fortune --- a man's only as good as his word.
Somehow I think Mr. Young would have approved of that.
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